Please permit me to acknowledge with appreciation and gratitude the
responses to my questions received by private Email.  Thank all of you
very much.
 
Question: What is the purpose of the caecum or cecum in a mammal's
digestive system other than a ferret?
 
I ask this question because the digestibility of vegetables and fiber (?)
cannot occur in the ferret (as it is currently theorized)since it is devoid
of this organ.
 
As I understand, the cecum is a blind sac attached at the end of the small
intestine and at the beginning of the ascending colon.  It appears similar
to the appendix which is located adjacent to the cecum.  The ferret doesn't
have an appendix either.  So the question resolves itself down to this:
 
How can a blind sack (only one opening), like the appendix, function as a
digestive organ?
 
Appreciate your responses.
Thanks,
Edward Lipinski
Ferret Endowment for Research, Rehabilition, Education & Training Society,
NorthWest.
[Posted in FML issue 2882]